dirty Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb make soiled, filthy, or dirty
    begrime; soil; grime; bemire; colly.
    • don't soil your clothes when you play outside!
  2. adjective soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
    soiled; unclean.
    • dirty unswept sidewalks
    • a child in dirty overalls
    • dirty slums
    • piles of dirty dishes
    • put his dirty feet on the clean sheet
    • wore an unclean shirt
    • mining is a dirty job
    • Cinderella did the dirty work while her sisters preened themselves
  3. adjective (of behavior or especially language) characterized by obscenity or indecency
    • dirty words
    • a dirty old man
    • dirty books and movies
    • boys telling dirty jokes
    • has a dirty mouth
  4. adjective satellite vile; despicable
    lousy; filthy.
    • a dirty (or lousy) trick
    • a filthy traitor
  5. adjective spreading pollution or contamination; especially radioactive contamination
    contaminating.
    • the air near the foundry was always dirty
    • a dirty bomb releases enormous amounts of long-lived radioactive fallout
  6. adjective satellite contaminated with infecting organisms
    pestiferous.
    • dirty wounds
    • obliged to go into infected rooms"- Jane Austen
  7. adjective satellite (of color) discolored by impurities; not bright and clear
    dingy; muddy; muddied.
    • dirty" is often used in combination
    • a dirty (or dingy) white
    • the muddied grey of the sea
    • muddy colors
    • dirty-green walls
    • dirty-blonde hair
  8. adjective satellite (of a manuscript) defaced with changes
    foul; marked-up.
    • foul (or dirty) copy
  9. adjective satellite obtained illegally or by improper means
    ill-gotten.
    • dirty money
    • ill-gotten gains
  10. adjective satellite expressing or revealing hostility or dislike
    • dirty looks
  11. adjective satellite violating accepted standards or rules
    unsportsmanlike; cheating; foul; unsporting.
    • a dirty fighter
    • used foul means to gain power
    • a nasty unsporting serve
    • fined for unsportsmanlike behavior
  12. adjective satellite unethical or dishonest
    sordid.
    • dirty police officers
    • a sordid political campaign
  13. adjective satellite unpleasantly stormy
    • there's dirty weather in the offing

WordNet

Dirt"y adjective
Wordforms
comparative Dirtier ; superlative Dirtiest
Definitions
  1. Defiled with dirt; foul; nasty; filthy; not clean or pure; serving to defile; as, dirty hands; dirty water; a dirty white. Spenser.
  2. Sullied; clouded; -- applied to color. Locke.
  3. Sordid; base; groveling; as, a dirty fellow.
    The creature's at his dirty work again. Pope.
  4. Sleety; gusty; stormy; as, dirty weather.
    Storms of wind, clouds of dust, an angry, dirty sea. M. Arnold.
    Syn. -- Nasty; filthy; foul. See Nasty.
Dirt"y transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Dirtied ; present participle & verbal noun Dirtying
Definitions
  1. To foul; to make filthy; to soil; as, to dirty the clothes or hands.
  2. To tarnish; to sully; to scandalize; -- said of reputation, character, etc.

Webster 1913